The Change In Heart
by angelbud2233
Summary: Rewrite of A Change of Heart The seventh and final year for James Potter, Lily Evans, and their friends. Unlike any other year, James starts to go through some changes, and Lily's starting to notice. As hard as she tries to fight him, and keeping in her s


**The Change in Heart**

(A/N: Okay, so fine. I've done it. I've just fricken started over. I don't give a damn. I'll keep up the other story, and if I find some inspiration, which I think is so unlikely, I'll write another chapter for it. If I don't though, then I'll just rewrite the whole story over again. So if you didn't know before, now you do. This is a rewrite of "A Change of Heart". I like it better, I think, so yeah. **Extra Tid Bit: Thanks to my beta, Mariam! You're the greatest kiddo! Couldn't have done it without you. Definitely not. So this is me giving credit to you.**)

Disclaimer: Don't own JK's stuff. Kay. Now that we're clear.

_Chapter One: An Unfortunate Case of Bad Luck_

The day was just like any day at the train station. People were buzzing by trying to rush to catch their train before it had left without them. Hugs were being exchanged, tears being shed, and just a sense of life filled the entire place.

All had been normal except for one individual standing outside the barrier between Platform 9 and Platform 10.

"I'll never get to do this again," she said under her breath, examining the barrier very intently like it was some great art work like the _Mona Lisa._

She took in a deep breath and let it out, her hands falling to her sides, only to drop further and pick up a suitcase that had been beside her feet.

"C'mon, Lils…we've gotta get a move on. Maria's already waiting for us in there." A brunette, with large crystal-like blue eyes came up behind her, a huge smile on her lips.

"I was getting to it," Lily returned, offering her a smile as well. She looked her over. Katrina Starre had definitely changed a bit over the summer. Her brown hair, which had gotten lighter a bit, was longer than before and reached somewhere near the bottom of her shoulder blade now, and her skin had bronzed from days and days in the sun.

Lily, with suitcase in hand, walked through the barrier between Platform 9 and 10, undoubtedly the most un-normal thing to be happening at the train station according to anyone else but Lily and Katrina, who then followed Lily too.

What should've happened didn't. The logical prediction would've been for both girls to have been pretty sore after walking into a barrier and both would have fallen straight on their behinds. This simply was not the case.

When they walked through the barrier they came out on the other end to a completely new world. A train could be seen with the letters "_HOGWARTS EXPRESS_" written across the side of it, kids ranging from eleven to seventeen (Lily and Katrina's precise age) could be seen talking with other kids, and an extremely excited girl running up to the both of them. Maria Santana.

As soon as Maria had reached the both of them she pulled both into a bone-crushing embrace. For the shortest of the three of them, she had quite a lot of power and energy in her. Her hair had gotten shorter instead of longer over the summer but her curly hair remained just the same as always. Her smile out beat both of theirs.

"Can you believe it, guys? This is it! Our _last_ year at Hogwarts. We're seventh years now. We rule the school. No year above us! I can't believe this. I'm so excited! I'm so excited!" Maria said with such enthusiasm that she had begun to jump up and down clapping her hands frantically.

"Did you get us a compartment on the train?" Kat asked, a laugh escaping her lips at the sight ofMaria.

"Oh…I probably should've thought of doing that. I was just so excited to see you guys I didn't think that I should go get on—"

"It's all right," Lily cut her off, "we'll just go get one now. I'm sure there's bound to be at least _one_ empty one."

Lily grabbed her stuff again and the other two girls followed in suit as they headed toward the train which was already beginning to whistle.

"Oh hey, Lils!" Kat caught her attention as they were stepping onto the train, "Nice badge by the way." Lily could tell her words were dripped with sarcasm, but she didn't care.

"Thanks! It's gorgeous, isn't it?" She shined her Head Girl badge with her sleeve and continued to walk, an oh-so cheesy smile plastered on her face.

Head Girl: just what Lily had always dreamed of getting ever since she first got Prefect back in her fifth year. Prefect was good, sure, but nothing compared to Head Girl.

"Oh hey…almost forgot," although she really hadn't, "I have to go to talk with the Prefects and the new Head Boy, whoever he may be. I'll go find you guyslater." All three waved to one another as they parted ways. Maria and Kat headed off to go find a compartment, and Lily to go meet what she would next consider an unfortunate case of bad luck.

"Heads up!" Lily's head whipped around, just in time to catch the last glimpse of a fifth year knocking into her before they were both on the ground.

"Will you watch where you're going?" The fifth year snarled, getting up and dusting himself off, kicking aside Lily's Head Girl badge that had fallen. Yep, definitely had to be a Slytherin.

"Watch where _I'm_ going? You _can't_ be serious!" Lily's voice echoed down the corridor of the train just slightly after the Slytherin who had simply just ignored her.

"Sorry, they get more and more immature every year." Lily's badge was flashed in front of her and a hand was offered to her to get her back on her feet.

"Ooh, thank—Potter! Don't touch me!"

James Potter in the flesh. Handsome, charming, any girl's dream boat. Any girl besides Lily.

His hair had only changed from messy, to messier. His glasses hid from most the beautiful hazel eyes he had. His built was muscular, obviously from hours upon hours of Quidditch practice (him being the captain of the Gryffindor team, after all). He stood tall and confident, like always; right now though, his face showed something that looked more like shyness or anxiety to Lily. Something no one had definitely ever seen out of James Potter before.

"Sorry…was only trying to help," James said after letting Lily get up on her own.

"Well you weren't. So go ahead. Get it over with," _Ask me out already so I can tell you no again_. The words rang in her head. She was ready for it. She had been practicing for a good part of two weeks this magnificent speech that would finally get Potter to give up on his dream and quit asking her out, once and for all.

"Get…what over with?" All Lily got out of James was a cock of the eyebrow. Definitely not the response Lily had been planning on. A smooth, suave, oh-too-cocky response was what was expected.

"Um…nothing. Never mind." She'd wait until later. It was bound to happen later. It always did. "What are you doing in the corridor, anyway? You're supposed to be in a compartment. So go ahead. Run off to your little—um—Marauders already. I've gotta go speak with the Prefects." Pride swelled in her chest and her cheesy smile had returned.

"Oh. No need. I already gave the Prefects the speech and everything of all the bloody things they've got to do."

"What? Why? You're not allowed to do that. That's the Head Girl's and Head Boy's job. I don't know where you came off thinking tha—"

"_Maybe_ I came off thinking that since _I'm_ now _Head Boy_, that I'd give the speech because the Head Girl was somewhat _tardy_ to help."

A laugh escaped her lips. Impossible. Head Boy? Potter? "Your jokes get more bloody idiotic each one, you know?"

"It's not a joke, Lily."

Her attention perked up a bit. Did he just call her "Lily"? That was definitely strange coming out of James Potter's mouth. He usually resorted to calling her by her surname, "Evans."

"Not a joke? Bu-bu-but that's impossible! You can't be!"

"Sorry, if I've disappointed you. I'll try harder next time not to," and with that he left. A polite smile was all he gave to Lily as he continued on his way.

_What…in…bloody…hell? What is wrong with him? What happened to…well, never mind. He'll be back to his old self. Maybe he just…ate a rotten sandwich. Yeah, that's it. Rotten sandwich equals different James. I must keep him away from any spoiled food from now on. _

_Although…I don't know why I would care. It's not like I particularly like the old or new James. I mean Potter. _

She shook her head in an attempt to stop thinking of him. To think of Potter for too long couldn't be a good sign she figured. She decided to go look for her friends again and headed the other direction that they had gone.

With no such luck five minutes in, Maria finally stepped out of a compartment. "Hey Maria!" Lily shouted out to her.

She turned to see Lily, a little too quickly, and ended up whipping herself in the face with her hair. "Ow," she whispered to herself but smiled at Lily all the same. "We're in here. Only compartment that could fit us all. Heh…so don't umm…hate me and Kat for it, okay? They're not that bad, honest. They're being really nice."

Lily's smile only grew wider laughing a bit. "Chill, Maria. You act like you got me in a compartment with some Slytherins. Hah or worse…" she opened the compartment door only to find her "worse" had become a reality, "…the Marauders…"

"Lily! My darling!" Sirius Black jumped from his seat beside James and pulled Lily into her second bone crushing hug of the day.

"Black! I swear if you don't let go of me this very instant you will be in so mu—" but he had already let go. Sirius wasn't a total fool. He knew when he would be slapped and when he wouldn't.

He instead gave her an intensely charming and playful wink and sat beside James again. Those two were inseparable most of the time. They looked and acted like brothers. Sirius had the same dark hair that James had, although his complexion was somewhat darker. He definitely filled the shoes of the "tall, dark, and handsome" bit quite well.

Lily plopped herself down next to Kat. She only turned to glare at her all the while thinking: _oh you are so going to get it for this._

Kat didn't pay any mind to this though.

"Hey Lils…" Remus Lupin greeted her, "great seeing you again. I hope your summer was good. Ready for even more studying this year?" His voice was soft and his smile nothing but polite. Exactly like Remus Lupin. The sweetheart of the Marauders. Always first to be a gentlemen (not that we can say much for Sirius or James), and the most intelligent of them too. Even looking rather ill most of the time, Remus still had a quality about him that made him handsome too. Not as obvious as James or Sirius' but it was still there. He was the only Marauder that Lily could tolerate.

"It was fine, thanks. Was yours good too?"

"It was great," Remus began, "I went to…" but his sentence faded as Maria re-entered the compartment in her school robes now. "Hey Maria," instead he said, a small blush creeping on his pale cheeks.

She smiled at him and sat beside Lily, taking Remus away into a new conversation; both completely forgetting about Lily.

"So…Lily-Willy!" Sirius said, excitement containing him. "Why the shocked face?"

"What are you talking about, Black? I don't look shocked."

"Oooooh but you so do. Was it because you saw James with that badge? Head Boy? C'mon, you _must've_ fainted if I choked on food in shock."

"Do you really think I'm that narrow-minded?"

"Yes," the entire compartment, not including Lily, said in unison. She only glared at the ceiling.

"Well I'm not. Apparently you guys can't see that though. Oh forget it, I'm going to go change into my robes," she said, pushing her way through the compartment with her suitcase, knocking Peter Pettigrew across his head with it.

The last and probably the most unusual of the Marauders. He was short, quite chubby, and had watery eyes. He always seemed to be anxious or nervous about something and wasn't particularly good at anything which involved magic. His scores in classes were poor and he struggled just to pass another year. Definitely an unusual Marauder.

_I am not narrow-minded. They're so wrong. They're narrow-minded about me being narrow-minded! Yeah that's it! Definitely it. Why would I care if Potter got the badge? It's not like I'm completely disgusted about it. Only like…75 percent disgusted. Or maybe 80--wait—who am I kidding? Definitely 90 percent disgusted._ Her thoughts continued to go along this pattern as she walked down the corridor. She heard the compartment door open and saw James head the other direction; even with this being the case she slowed her walk anyway. He didn't even glance at her. Not once. _And it's almost making me feel…offended._

* * *

Cold water splashed on James' face. Water slipped through his fingers slowly. He grabbed the nearest towel and dabbed his face dry again, putting his glasses back on that had been on the counter beside him. 

_This is not working. She's never gonna believe I've changed. She's too hard-headed. She's too much like…Lily. You'd think after all these years I'd just be able to give up and move on. No girl has **ever** made James Potter work this hard to win her heart. Lily's different though. I can't just snap my fingers and she'll come. I can't just wink and her swoon like some other girls I know. I can't just…have her. Maybe that's why I want her so bad. Since I can't have her…she's the thing I want most. More than anything. Anything._

_What is wrong with me? I sound so pathetic. _He sat down on the counter, being careful to avoid the sink. It wasn't a very large bathroom so he was almost certain if anyone tried opening the door, it would knock his knees back and his tush wouldn't be so dry anymore.

_Maybe, once I get her (if that could happen) I'll be able to move on. I won't be so…stuck on her. _

This thought though, however much he didn't want to admit it, didn't seem too likely. He was willing to pretend like it some how was though.

* * *

"So what's wrong with him?" 

"Huh?" The look on Sirius' face would've been more than enough to describe his confusion without the extra wording.

"What's wrong with James? He looks so…well I dunno how to describe it. But it's almost freaking me out. It's like he's some type of lost puppy," Kat said glancing over the spot James had just left earlier.

"Ah, that, Doll-face, is even a mystery to me most of the time. He's been acting like this all summer. Ever since the end of last year, he's just…acting all…well…not James-like."

"So you've got no idea?"

"I do."

"Well…? Are you going to tell me then?"

A smirk snuck onto his lips. Not just any smirk either. A completely Sirius, mischievous smirk. That was not good news. "What will you give me if I do…?" He scooted closer to her, drawing a hand to her face, rubbing her cheek gently with his thumb.

"Nothing," she said, in not her normal confident voice, but instead a weakening one. In reality, Katrina wouldn't have minded this proposal. Sirius was charming, handsome, and her biggest crush since their third year.

"Oh pity," Sirius said jokingly. His hand moved back to his lap and he smiled at her. "That's all right. Better luck next time for me, huh?"

"Yeah…I suppose so." Her cheek felt cold now.

"Well, my darling, I'll make a special exception for you just because I've known you for so long…and just because you're my best mate's cousin. So this is what I'm thinki—"

Peter gave a loud, rather obnoxious, snort, which he then woke up from. "Hi guys, what did I miss…?"

"Nothing," Kat said dully.

"Oh…" Peter mumbled to himself, looking down at his hands.

"I'll tell you later what I think, all right?" Sirius whispered in her ear. His hot breath sent chills down her spine as he continued to speak, "don't make yourself too busy for me, all right, love?"

"Heh…yeah…all right. It's a date—a day that I will be more informed of something!" she quickly recovered.

Sirius didn't think anything of this. It got the attention of Maria and Remus quickly though.

* * *

With all of Lily's thinking, and all of James' thinking, and both of their urges to pace the corridors after changing into their school robes, they were bound to run into each other. So this is exactly what they did. 

The crash happened fairly fast, but the aftermath was probably more disastrous and time consuming than the first.

"Watch where you're going, Potter!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. I swear. It was an accident!"

"Accident my arse! You meant to do that! I know it. Why do you have to be so…like you?"

"So like me? And what's that supposed to mean? I wasn't doing anything. I was just apologizing. Sincerely."

"Oh, because that didn't sound sarcastic."

"It didn't. I'm really actually sorry, Lily. I mean it," his words grew softer and Lily's angered expressiongrew softer too. He got up and reached his hand out to help her up for the second time that day, in that corridor.

She gave his hand a questionable look but soon after placed her own in his. He helped her back to her feet slowly. As soon as she was stable enough to stand on her own, she snatched her hand back from him and wiped it on her robes. "Thanks Potter, but I can take care of myself, I think."

She walked passed James, and then past Sirius who was coming out of the compartment. The door slammed a little as she re-entered again to sit beside Kat and Maria.

"Hey—what's up with you, mate? You're smiling." Sirius' confused expression had returned.

Indeed, James was smiling. "She said thanks," he muttered.

"Huh? She said thanks?"

"I helped her up and she said thanks! Sure, it wasn't exactly heart-felt or anything like that…but it's a start."

A laugh escaped Sirius' lips as he spoke with a grin, "Mate, you're definitely one of a kind. Now c'mon. Let's go back. The girls want to teach us some muggle game. It has to do with some type of fish."

With that as their last words, they headed back for their compartment. This was definitely going to be an interesting year.


End file.
